Kastkardia

Kastkardia is one of the primary Realms of existence — a dystopian Realm made up primarily of a single large city, The Divided City, which is filled with impossibly high skyscrapers connected by an impressive network of bridges. Its air is toxic, making masks and breathing apparatuses a necessity outside. Those who live inside the skyscrapers, the High Risers, rarely leave them; on the ground live the Dwellers, under constant threat of sickness from the polluted air. The city is ringed by a deserted wasteland, The Scraps, which forms a barrier of sorts between it and The Shroud that contains the Realm.

Geography

The majority of Kastkardia is taken up by a single city that lies in the middle of the Realm, The Divided City, at whose centre stands The Sceptre — the tallest building in the city, home to the Supreme Lord Chancellor and The High Council.

The air of Kastkardia is unbreathable and toxic, forcing those who travel outside to wear masks and other breathing apparatuses that filter out the toxic chemicals and turn the air breathable. Because of this, those who live in the skyscrapers very rarely leave, and the buildings themselves have advanced filtration systems that filter and recycle air within them to make it breathable.

Beyond the piles of scrap that litter the outskirts of the city itself, a large, mysterious and mesmerising curtain of energy known as The Shroud glistens with all manner of gorgeous colours, swaying, swirling and shifting in the wind.

History

Despite its long history, there is little evidence to suggest that much has changed over the course of Kastkardia's existence. The greatest historical events have come in the form of technological advancements and changes of rulership, however there have also been some less significant historical events in the form of small gang wars and attempted insurrections.

"When your entire world is in a perpetual state of now, what point is there to history?" — Alexander Sigmun

Ecosystem

Kastkardia as a Realm has no naturally occurring day/night cycle. Instead, the Realm is pervaded by a consistent and dense fog of pollution that is said to stretch all the way to the very top of the Realm where it makes contact with The Shroud. A dim light projected by The Shroud pervades the entirety of the Realm, although the majority of the city is lit with neon and man-made light sources, and as such there is little concept of day and night. Despite this, there is still a Realm-wide time and date system in the form of the Kastkardian Calendar, which is a time measurement system created and governed by the Supreme Lord Chancellor and The High Council.

Localised Phenomena

Aside from the unbreathable and toxic air, the energies of The Shroud are known to often kick up dangerous dust storms. These are ferocious and incredibly dangerous to anyone caught in the middle of one, often strong enough to pick up debris and scrap from The Scraps and fling it through the air as fast as bullets. They are also known on rare occasion to create creatures known as Scrap Dragons out of the scrap that they pick up.

Flora & Fauna

Kastkardia has little in the way of discovered wildlife; within the city, the only known forms are the insects and other small creatures able to survive the toxic atmosphere. The rare Scrap Dragons thrown up by the dust storms are the closest thing the Realm has to larger fauna, and there are stories and folk-tales of other creatures deep in The Scraps that are for the most part thought to be merely myths. Any flora grown in the Realm is largely synthetic and grown for a specific purpose such as food — the atmosphere supports no plant life, natural or otherwise, so what exists is confined to the Rises and cared for by dedicated agriculturalists.

Natural Resources

Kastkardia has little in the way of naturally occurring resources. However, the scrap that litters the wastes of The Scraps seems to be ever-present, and even when recovered will always seem to replenish itself.